It’s one of the most famous movies in Hollywood history and is credited with launching the summer blockbuster phenomenon.
But when Jaws was being shot in 1974, the project was hit by disaster. What was supposed to be the star of the movie, the mechanical shark, didn’t work properly. A play making its West Coast premiere in Santa Barbara this week looks at the chaos it caused for the three lead actors in the movie.
The comedy is called The Shark Is Broken.
"The play is set off the coast of Martha's Vineyard over the course of nine weeks in 1974. Three actors, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider, are all stuck on the Orca (the boat used in the movie)," said actor Will Block. He plays Hooper, the character portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss in the movie.
"They're supposed to be shooting all of the stuff with the shark, but the mechanical shark isn't working," said Block. "They have no idea of how long they're going to be there. It's about them trying to make a great movie under trying circumstances, and they are three very large personalities trapped on a 47-foot-long boat."
Adam Poole is Roy Scheider, who played the police chief, and Gildart Jackson is Robert Shaw, the infamous shark hunter Quint.
"This group of actors has just dropped into the characters, but they also bring their own theater stories and war stories from working in the industry," said Pesha Rudnick, director of the Ensemble Theater Company production. "The notion of 'hurry up and wait' has been an enduring theme in our process, and what that does to the psyche and what that does to the process of making any kind of art."
The Shark is Broken actually started as a project by actor Robert Shaw’s son, who was exploring his late father’s life and legacy.
During the filming, all three actors had doubts about their participation in the project. Richard Dreyfus turned it down twice and only took the role after he thought another film he had just finished was going to bomb. Block, who plays Dreyfuss, said the actor eventually realized he made the right choice doing Jaws.
After director Steven Spielberg realized the mechanical shark wouldn't work as planned, he reduced its screen time and refocused the movie on the interaction of the movie's main three characters. Critics said that's what turned the movie from B-level horror into a Hollywood classic.
The set for the play focuses on the cabin from Quint’s boat in the movie.
So, if the cast and the audience are on the boat, that raises a logical question. Will we see the shark?
"No," laughed Rudnick. "We're seeing the drama behind the scenes. The reality is Spielberg had to use all kinds of techniques to create suspense, and to create the drama that he wanted, the music, the use of the barrels. The shark, also known as Bruce, doesn't make an appearance in our show, but there are other forces that create stress."
The Shark is Broken has a Friday night preview performance before making its West Coast premiere Saturday night. It runs through February 22 at Santa Barbara's New Vic Theater.
